Page 91 of Off Limits

“Hey. Shay, look at me.” My eyes meet his. They’re soft, calming. He leans in and kisses me tenderly. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll deal with Chelsea. Don’t worry.”

With another kiss on my temple, he pulls away, getting off the bed and sliding his shorts on. He yanks the door open as he pulls his shirt over his head, jumping back slightly. “Fuck, Chels, you seriously just stood here?”

I’m in the middle of buttoning my pants, wearing just a bra for a top, when she pushes past him and into my room.

Frantically she looks between the two of us, eyes wild, nostrils flaring. “Whatis going on here?” She doesn’t give us time to answer, turning on Lochlyn, finger in his face. “Are you fucking her? Mybest friend?”

She spins on me. “And you. How many times have I told you? Lochlyn’s my fucking brother, Shay. Mybrother. You can have any guy you want, they all come around you.” Lochlyn tenses at her words, knowing some inside details he has yet to share with me. “And you go after my brother?”

“Chels, I—" She holds up her hand to stop me, her eyes filled to the brim, ready to spill over with the next blink.

“I’ve told you. I’ve told both of you, thatthis”—she waves her hands wildly between us—“was not something I was okay with. Not ever.”

We all stand in silence. I catch Lochlyn’s eyes across the room. His jaw is clenched, cheekbones sharp, eyes dark.

“How long?”

We both turn our eyes to Chelsea.

“Huh?”

“How long?” she asks again through gritted teeth.

I swallow, my mouth arid, a lump stuck in my throat.

“Since Thanksgiving,” Lochlyn answers for me, seeing my struggle.

Eyes searing, she turns to Lochlyn. “You’ve been hiding this from me since Thanksgiving? You’ve been screwing her since then?”

“No!” we both yell in unison.

She turns to me, eyes pleading. “Shay, you’ve been lying to me for almost a year? How could you do that?” The pain etched in her voice slices through me, every word like a shard of glass.

“Leave her alone, Chels. I did this. I went after her.” Why? Why would he take this all on himself? Yes, he made the first move, but everything after was completely mutual. The lying, keeping the secret for all this time, wasmyfault.

Chelsea throws her hands up as she turns on her brother. “Oh, poor, sweet Lochlyn. What, you couldn’t get enough sluts at college? You had to turn my best friend into just another one of your conquests?”

Lochlyn tenses, hands balling into fists, as he points a finger at her. “Watch it,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Really, though, Loch, have you told her about all the girls at school?”

Everything inside me twists into knots as his chest rises and falls. He has told me. I know all about what he’s done at college, and before. As well as how wrong Chelsea is, and yet she throws it in his face constantly.

“I have not been with anybody since well before Thanksgiving. I have been faithful to Shay.”

“Oh bullshit, Lochlyn. You couldn’t keep it in your pants if a million dollars was on the line.” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even care about that. I told both of you, time and time again, that I would never be okay if you two got together. I never thought I’d have to worry about it. You barely noticed each other. But I started seeing little things here and there this summer. I thought I was crazy. Guess not.”

“Say what you want about me, Chelsea, but I have not, nor would I ever, cheat on Shay.”

“To cheat on her, you’d have to be in a relationship, not just screwing around.” She practically spits the words out.

When neither one of us says anything, eyes locked on each other, she picks up on the change in the room and looks between us.

“Ohmygod. You’re in a relationship? Like officially boyfriend and girlfriend?” The words are a whisper of air and I know she doesn’t want to believe it, yet has all pieces of the puzzle, she just has to assemble them.

She turns to me. “The messages. John. It was Lochlyn the whole time, wasn’t it?” My heart drops at the look on her face. Betrayal. I hang my head, unable to hold her gaze. “That’s why you never let me meet him. Because you werelyingto me.”

Lochlyn nervously rubs the tattoo on his middle finger. What will happen if Chelsea puts that together too?

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